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IMO he doesn't look like a breed circuit horse in movement and I don't think he would ever place well in it. He has a lot of knee in the trot for hunters if your looking for more than local. He may do alright at local c shows. Depending on where you are and the competition in your area. I don't like his neck at all in the video. He has a pretty bad ewe neck, maybe it's his age and if not he may work out of it with muscle building but sometimes they don't get rid of it completely. He does have a nice canter and if yu are not worried about the hack i would like to see him lunged over a couple fences 1. To see how he takes to it and 2. What his form is like at this time. He does seem up and usually in the qh world these guys are broke at 2 and showing by now. Makes me wonder since they say he was to immature at the time if that is code for he was a complete butthead and is not going to be easy hence they are selling him on unbroken. He could make a nice lower level dressage horse or eventer more than I see hunter or breed show in him.

That neck is pretty typical of a horse bred for QH showing. Low set, and easy to keep the head down - which in a way is good compared to forcing it with draw reins or other means if you're going to insist on that.

You probably would do better locally with this horse showing APHA than AQHA, but it depends on the local circuit. The horses winning HUS now move like a top hunter but the always perfectly low headset.

I had an AQHA/PHBA gelding who was sold on as a youngster because he didn't naturally want to go slowly enough to do the 2/3 year old futurities without damaging his legs. As an adult we used circles to teach him to want to rock back onto his haunches and balance slowly, but I wouldn't have wanted to circle a baby so much. This looks like a youngster you could have fun with who could be an all-arounder, but I would definitely not be aiming for the futurities and large amount of riding you'd have to be putting in for such a short timeframe. You don't sound like that's what you're aiming for, though, which is good!

ETA: To me the baby looks like a good sort who would be fun to work with. I would "ruin" it for breed showing by teaching about lifting in the withers and building muscle on the top of the neck, use any flat classes as warmup to jumping (though eq could go very well with this horse!) and ride more like a hunter or dressage horse than a QH hunter. There's a lot to say for the brains of horses with similar breeding and their acceptance of anything you want them to do, and to me that likely brain alone makes the horse very worth looking at.

Originally Posted by Silverbridge

If you get anything on your Facebook feed about who is going to the Olympics in 2012 or guessing the outcome of Bush v Gore please start threads about those, too.

Well, I went today and met "Wilt". He is a VERY baby-ish three year old, physically immature still. Owners said they sent him to the trainer last year briefly, and then decided to wait til this year to put him under saddle for any kind of real work. They claimed they really don't care for the 2y.o. futurities especially with the slow growers. By babyish, I mean he's still gaingly and narrow...but he's sweet and I love his personality. His neck is NOT anywhere near as bad as it looked in the 2 yr old video from last year that I linked in the first post. The two things that are irking me right now....he has TB feet, flat and wide, which I'm not in love with. And his rear pasterns are at an odd angle, although he moves well enough, I wonder if that would affect his soundness long term. I understand his bloodline is a proven one, his Sire has many winners on the ground, and his Dam does as well, as well as being in the Main book of the Oldenburg registry. But I'm not sure he's one I'm willing to pay 7500 for. I'm waiting for the freelunging video to upload so that I can link to it here. (It's loading really slowly.) I'll attach the couple photo's I took (they aren't wonderful). Thanks for everyone's thoughts, If anything, I'm learning alot from this, no matter how it turns out.

His feet/hooves don't bother me as I'd rather have a large foot than small... and have to agree about the hind end but it could be the way he's standing and camera angle. Also holding back comment on lower leg conformation because it looks like he's not standing square or up. If he's got some warmblood in him they do seem to take longer to mature and fill out. I think it's also hard to really tell what kind of a mover he is on a lunge line and a youngster.

the video says he's currently standing at 16.2? where are they measuring him /how tall is the guy holding him? My horse is 16.1 and I'm thinking this fellow is not taller than my horse but...

He's a cutie and has a sweet look about him - I don't know that I'd write him off yet, if he's close by might be worth a 2nd look unless you have others in mind.

Again, thanks guys. As much as I like him in general, I think my brain is going to win this one, and I'll probably end up ringing the owner back tomorrow and letting her know he's not for me....keep on keeping on looking for 'the one'.

Maybe if he were priced way lower...those rear pasterns would be enough to put me off. But like others have said, if you like him, do a PPE and ask the vet about them and his general conformation in terms of long term soundness.

I think if you were talking $3000 I would say go for it, but don't think this horse looks like a $7500 horse in the video. I think you can find a much nicer mellow TB for less with retraining and x-rays.

Originally Posted by Silverbridge

If you get anything on your Facebook feed about who is going to the Olympics in 2012 or guessing the outcome of Bush v Gore please start threads about those, too.